The president of the Saudi Ports Authority Abdul Aziz Al-Tuwaijri signed an SR2 billion contract with Saudi Global Ports (SGP) to construct a second container station at the King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam.
The kingdom currently has nine ports; five on the Red Sea and four on the Gulf, with around 200 docks. In a press statement after the signing ceremony at the ports authority’s headquarters in Riyadh, Al-Tuwaijri said: “The new terminal will add 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) to raise the capacity of the port to 3 million TEU which is expected to make Dammam port one of the leading ports in the Arabian Gulf.”
Dr. Tawfig Fozan Al Rabiah director general MODON the Saudi Arabian industrial property authority, which works towards the vision to create fully integrated industrial cities to meet the demand of the industrial sector and increase
its contribution to the GDP.
“The development of a second container station of the ports is an indication of the enormous growth that Saudi Arabia is facing in all economic sectors including the industrial, with the expansion of the industrial cities by MODON in the eastern provinces, the opportunities of importing and exporting will grow, hence the utilisation of the port will have a great impact on the industrial development especially in Dammam,” Al Rabiah says.
Industrial growth
Al Rabiah also confirms in addition to a larger port MODON is currently working on Dammam’s third industrial city. The authority has already established two industrial cities; one is an area of 2.5 million square metres located on Dammam-AlKhobar expressway between Dammam and AlKhobar with 22,000 workers.
The second is on a location near Dammam sea port outside the urban boundaries of the city which currently employs 75,000 workers.
“The first and second industrial cities in Dammam host more than 720 factories with approximately 90,000 workers which have a direct impact on the local economy of Dammam city. The industrial projects in Dammam also create other job opportunities in the supporting services like logistics and transportation. More over it provides entrepreneurial business opportunities supplying to the industries in Dammam,” Al Rabiah says.
The demand for industrial land in the eastern region in general specifically dictated the development of the third industrial city in Dammam and Al Rabiah and Dr. Tawfig Fozan Al Rabiah director general MODON confirms the authority has signed contracts with well known master planners to layout plans for the industrial area, taking into consideration the environment.
The city's picturesque marina
State-of-the-art
The new city will have state-of-the-art infrastructure, high standard living accommodation and support services, and commercial centres. The authority has developed integrated infrastructure services such as advanced telecommunication services, drainage and water supply, commercial services including restaurants, health and cargo and housing and government services that meet the needs of investors, contribute to the development of the community in Dammam and preserve the environment.
“MODON in collaboration with other government agencies demand factories to be built according to the environmental standards and specifications. MODON enforces with a qualified team of controllers the rules and regulations of the environment protection codes in the industrial cities. In addition MODON does not permit pollutant industries in all our new industrial cities,” Al Rabiah says.
New railway links
It was recently reported in Arab News Saudi Arabian finance minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf recently confirmed King Abdullah has ordered the linking of the new Hazm Al-Jalameed-Ras Al-Zour rail with Dammam through Jubail Industrial City.
The new rail will connect the major industrial facilities in Jubail, Ras Al-Zour and Northern Border Province with King Fahd Industrial Port and Commercial Port in Jubail and the King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam enabling passengers to travel between Riyadh, Dammam, Jubail and Ras Al-Zour.
Office and residential demand Mike Williams senior director CB Richard Ellis Bahrain CBRE believes although eastern province cities Al Khobar and Dhahran are merging with Dammam the city is not as advanced.
“Dammam lags behind Al Khobar and Dhahran in terms of real estate pricing. Oil price rises have stimulated more investment in Al Khobar and Dhahran due to the presence of ARAMCO, but Dammam does not appear to have any major commercial or economic stimuli at the moment.”
CBRE has been engaged in finding land and office space for clients wishing to relocate to Al Khobar and Dhahran, including identifying 40,000 sqm land for international clients, finding offices for international and regional clients and founding three branch locations for a GCC bank.
“The Eastern Province has historically lagged behind the main cities of Jeddah and Riyadh. However, the oil price surge in recent years has transformed the market in Al Khobar in particular, with a significant influx of oil industry service providers relocating to this area, with a consequent growth in demand for high quality office and residential
accommodation,” Williams says.
“There is no clear CBD in Al Khobar or Eastern Province in general, with the result that major office development is taking place in the form of ‘ribbon development’ along the major highways linking Al Khobar with Ad Dammam,” Williams adds.
Sea front
Khaled Al Kurdi, chief executive officer and chief consultant Structure Consulting PSC, a management consulting firm has worked with the Eastern Province Municipality to help organise the authority’s overall strategy.
“Taking the Saudi culture into consideration, I think the sea front area developments are the most important as they establish public spaces to the people to socialise and hence improve the Saudi city culture into a more public rather
than private society culture,” he says.
“The municipality under the current mayor is working to realise its vision beautifully. It is rare to see an organisation dedicated to realising its vision as much as the municipality is,” he concludes.